Environmental News
Environmental News from Boulder, Colorado
Parks and Recreation Department to announce New Year’s fitness deals Jan. 1; host FREE open house Jan. 5
Dec 29th
The Parks and Recreation Department is offering several great New Year’s fitness deals to help area residents succeed with their New Year’s fitness plans and resolutions. These special offers will be announced Saturday, Jan. 1, in an 8-page special insert in the Daily Camera, Denver Post (Boulder-area circulation only) and on the Parks and Recreation website: www.BoulderParks-Rec.org.
Special offers and information will be available at all three recreation centers beginning Sunday, Jan. 2 (as all centers will be closed on New Year’s Day).
The Parks and Recreation Department will also host a FREE fitness open house from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 5, at the East Boulder Community Center, 5660 Sioux Drive. Area residents are invited to tour the recreation center, sample classes, swim and work out for free! There will also be open house specials and give-aways.
Boulder chosen as “Beta Community” for groundbreaking sustainability measurement tool
Dec 22nd
Boulder chosen as “Beta Community” for groundbreaking sustainability measurement tool
The City of Boulder is one of just nine cities and counties in the country to be selected to pilot a new sustainability rating system that allows local governments to analyze, map, and manage all their sustainability data in one place, and to share that information on a dashboard that interfaces with the city’s website. Boulder’s designation as a “Beta Community” for the STAR Community Index ™ (STAR) was announced today by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability USA.
The STAR tool is expected to transform and accelerate the local sustainability movement by offering cities and counties a roadmap for advancing climate protection, economic recovery and equal opportunities for all residents within a community.
“Boulder has shown its commitment to being an innovator in sustainability, but we know that having courage and good ideas isn’t enough to achieve our goals,” said David Driskell, executive director of community sustainability. “This tool will help advance our ongoing efforts to collect meaningful data to analyze what works, where there are opportunities for improvement and where we might focus our efforts. We are very excited to have been selected for this unique program, and think it will provide a great learning tool for our community.”
Together, ICLEI and the Beta Communities will road test STAR, to ensure that it can be adopted by local governments around the country, ranging from small towns to major cities. The other cities chosen are Atlanta, GA.; Chattanooga, TN.; Cranberry Township, PA.; Des Moines, Iowa; the District of Columbia; King County, WA.; New York, NY; and St. Louis, MO.
“These nine early-adopter cities, along with many other communities across the nation, are already taking the lead on energy efficiency and sustainable development in their own right and as such, they are the perfect candidates to advance the goals and mission of STAR, which is to build healthier, inclusive and more livable communities,” said Martin Chávez, Executive Director, ICLEI USA and three-term mayor of Albuquerque, NM.
The STAR Community Index is being developed by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA (ICLEI USA) in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), National League of Cities (NLC), and Center for American Progress (CAP), and in collaboration with over 150 sustainability experts and organizations from a diverse group of cities and counties, federal agencies, national associations, non-profit organizations and private entities.
The Beta Communities will receive technical support and resources to position them to become early adopters of STAR and accelerate their various sustainability efforts.
The selection of the nine Beta Communities follows the recent release of the STAR Sustainability Goals and Guiding Principles to assist local governments and communities with a much-needed vocabulary to more effectively strategize and focus their sustainability planning efforts. The 81 goals and 10 guiding principles released collectively define community-scale sustainability and serve as the foundation of STAR.
How the STAR Online Platform Will Work
The STAR online platform will provide users with a variety of features to enable quick uptake of the STAR Community Index. The platform will include features to enable local governments to analyze, map, and manage all their sustainability data in one place, and to present that information to internal managers, executives, and the public using a sustainability dashboard that interfaces with a city’s or county’s website. The tool will also facilitate data sharing with ICLEI for the verification and certification of a community under the forthcoming STAR rating system. More information on the STAR Beta Communities and STAR online platform can be found at: http://www.icleiusa.org/star
About the STAR Community Index
STAR will change the way local governments and communities approach sustainability goals – and how they manage and measure their long-term progress. This performance-based sustainability management system breaks ground by uniquely combining the following elements: a framework for sustainability — based on the pillars of environment, economy, and social equity; an online data-management platform that gathers, organizes, analyzes, and presents information required to meet community and government sustainability goals through effective management; and a management model and rating system that drive continuous improvement in community health, vitality and prosperity for all residents. More information on STAR can be found at: http://www.icleiusa.org/star
Household Hazardous Waste facility to close Dec. 18
Dec 10th
Boulder County, Colo. – The Boulder County Household Hazardous Waste facility that has operated since 1992 at the Western Disposal Transfer Station, 5880 Butte Mill Road in Boulder, is closing. It will be replaced by a new facility opening in late February, located at 1901 63rd St. in Boulder, immediately west of the Boulder County Recycling Center.
The existing facility will be open during regular hours (Wednesday, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and Friday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-noon) through Saturday, Dec. 18, weather permitting. Residents are advised to call the Household Hazardous Waste hotline at 303-441-4800 for closure information. The outdoor nature of the collection facility results in occasional closures due to extreme weather including below freezing temperatures, rain, snow, and high winds.
After Dec. 18, residents are encouraged to safely store their hazardous waste until the new facility opens. If this is not possible, residents are asked to call the HHW hotline to request an appointment to drop off waste. As-needed collection events will be held to meet limited demand.
The Hazardous Materials Management Facility will open in February and includes advantages such as:
• All-weather operation (not subject to weather closures)
• Improved safety and ergonomics
• Greater convenience with more than double existing operating hours
• Begin to serve unmet needs of business community
• Allow processing efficiencies through use of equipment, for example, to bulk latex paint
• Ability to maximize revenues from oil, lead/acid batteries, recycled paint
• Ability to store wastes for more cost effective shipping
• Provide space and flexibility for future processing needs
Business wastes will be accepted, by appointment only, starting in May. The new business service will be limited to those businesses that generate small quantities of hazardous wastes and that are classified by the State of Colorado as “conditionally-exempt small quantity generators.”
All wastes collected are reused, recycled or disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. The program protects the environment through reducing improper disposal of hazardous products to the ground, storm and sanitary sewers, and landfills.
Many toxic, corrosive, flammable or reactive products are collected, including:
• Home improvement products (paints, thinners, caulks, glues, solvents, etc.)
• Auto products (lead/acid batteries, gasoline, motor oil, antifreeze, etc.)
• Garden products (herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, etc.)
• Household cleaners and batteries, regular and compact fluorescent bulbs, pet, pool, and hobby products
More information is available on existing services at www.bouldercountyrecycles.net or by calling the Household Hazardous Waste hotline at 303-441-4800. For more information on the new Hazardous Materials Management Facility, contact Hilary Collins at hcollins@bouldercounty.org or 720-564-2224.
